Beyond the Hype conveys the opinions and insight of Lois Paul and Partners, a tech, healthcare and clean tech PR agency, for how public relations, communications, and social media can make an impact on business results.

July 31, 2007

There is a sweet scene in last year's hysterical film "Little Miss Sunshine" where the title character stands in line to meet Miss California and gets the advice she is looking for: yes, Miss California, a beauty queen, eats ice cream. It's funny and poignant and fits perfectly into the film that veers wildly from pathos to slapstick and somehow leaves you with a smile. This morning's CNN American Morning news program reminded me of that scene when reigning Miss...

July 30, 2007

There was widespread coverage and conversation today on the VC investment in NowPublic.com, a site that bills itself as "crowd powered media." USA Today and Gannett turned heads last year when it revamped its approach to publishing news online and reporting on it by bringing citizens into the journalistic process. CNN made it possible for a Virginia Tech student to submit a camera phone video of the scene outside the building of the tragic events of this past spring. NowPublic...

July 27, 2007

For years, those of us who worked both with StorageTek and then Sun Microsystems after the acquisition, helped to educate many in the media and analyst community on the evolution of tape within backup and archive for the enterprise. Sure, tape was and continues to be an easy thing to bash. Just ask those few companies profiled in news articles the past few years when a DLT or LTO tape holding valuable information is "misplaced, lost or stolen." However, throughout...

July 26, 2007

When I was a journalist, we called them slow news days. Now as a PR professional, I recognize those periods that our clients just don't have new deals to announce or products to launch or customers to publicize as a sort of summer doldrums period -- appropriate for this sultry July day. In an industry in which everyone is checking minute by minute for news, you certainly don't want a lot of minutes to go by without your client's brand...

July 25, 2007

This jumped out at me from my feeds today. Via the Editors Weblog (which came from Editor & Publisher), I saw that the San Francisco Chronicle named Eve Bately as the paper's new online editor. What's notable about this is that Eve's background is as a blogger and PR professional, not as a journalist. Every day there is fresh evidence at how fundamentally media is being redefined. This is the latest. The opportunity is shifting online and pace of change...

July 24, 2007

Two years ago, it was how YouTube made an impact on the public opinion of political candidates, as former Virginia senator George Allen's campaign turned on the "Macaca" moment. The next (baby) step played out last night with the Democratic Presidential debate following a first-of-its-kind format whereby the questions were asked of the candidates by ordinary citizens via YouTube videos. Out of nearly 3,000 videos submitted as part on an ongoing contest, 39 questions were picked and put to the...

July 23, 2007

Scott Kirsner is back writing regularly for the Boston Globe again. His new weekly column, the Innovation Economy, will be covering "entrepreneurship, technology and venture capital" in New England. First, let me say that it is great to have Scott back focusing on this area. He has always been very receptive to discussing new companies and products with PR people. It also shows that the Boston Globe is showing some re-commitment to covering an important segment of the local economy....

July 20, 2007

Last week during an interview, one of my clients referred to the "precautionary principle" as it relates to the healthcare industry implementing new technological innovations. He loosely stated that healthcare had taken the principle to new heights and that it now seems to operate under the rule, "If any bad result from an action is possible -- at all -- do not proceed with that action." It got me thinking about the media as it relates to health topics and...

July 19, 2007

I just finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in anticipation of the seventh book in J.K Rowling's series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which comes out this weekend. It reminded me of what makes a good story with compelling characters, complex and imaginative events, tension, intrigue and heartfelt interaction. It's no wonder that it has spawned many books, movies, marketing paraphenalia, online communities/fan clubs and even soon-to-be-built theme park attractions. According to the WSJ the latest movie...

July 18, 2007

I'm sitting in a Starbucks in San Francisco today, attending my 9th annual SEMICON West conference. It's a scary prospect, but feels good at the same time to recognize old faces in the crowd. The conference is the largest one catering to the semiconductor equipment and materials suppliers, who outfit the fabs that manufacture computer chips that are found in just about any device a consumer picks up. To say it's a techie crowd is quite an understatement. The brainpower...